Best Selling Small SUVs

What Is The Best Selling Small SUV In Your State?

Small SUVs Sales Continue to Rise

by Peter Levy

Consumer loyalty for small SUVs or crossovers has reached new heights. As fuel efficiency continues to improve, cargo space expands and their ability to handle tough weather increases, the best selling small SUV and crossover meet the demands of what buyers want today.

Not to mention, with most automakers now playing in the small SUV space, there is almost guaranteed to be a crossover for every budget.

Small SUVs Are Big In Sales

Based on sales trends alone, small SUVs and crossovers are all the rage right now. But are they popular everywhere?

Since the start of the year, over 1 million small SUVs and crossovers have been sold. Nearly 20 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States are small SUVs. Full sized SUVs make up another 30% of the market.

Since the start of 2017, the best selling small SUV nationwide is the Toyota Rav4. The top 3 include:

What is the best selling small SUV in each region of the United States?

How are sales doing in 2017 compared to 2016?

Is there a dominant region leading the way in crossover sales?

Did you know...

Between January 2017 and July 2017, over 1 million small SUVs and crossovers have been sold.

The Midwest Is Home To The Top Selling Small SUV

The Midwest is home to the best selling small SUV in terms of sales, with 15 percent of all vehicles sales going to small SUVs and crossovers. Out of the nearly 3 million vehicles sold in the Midwest between July 2016 and June 2017, nearly 500,000 were small SUV sales. This is followed closely behind by the Northeast, with 11.96 percent of the 2,987,147 vehicles sold there going to the small SUV market.

Out of the nearly 3 million vehicles sold in the Midwest between July 2016 and June 2017, 17 percent were small SUV sales. This is followed closely behind by the Northeast, with 12 percent of the vehicles sold there going to the small SUV market.

The South and West regions of the United States had similar crossover market share values, 9.95 percent, and 8.82 percent respectively, but the total number of vehicles sold in each region were very different. Between July 2016 and June 2017, in the South, just over 5 million vehicles were sold, of which 10% percent were crossovers.

Small SUV Market Share by Region

Region

Small SUV Sales July ’16 – June ’17

All Vehicle Sales July ’16 – June ’17

Small SUV Market Share

Midwest

418,114

2,879,556

14.52%

North East

357,225

2,987,147

11.96%

South

507,985

5,104,055

9.95%

West

271,168

3,074,228

8.82%

What Is The Best Selling Small SUV - A Deeper Dive Into The Top 6.

Toyota, Honda, Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, and Jeep all have crossover models on the list of top-selling crossovers nationwide. Top 6 of the best selling small SUV by sales includes:

Toyota Rav4

Honda CR-V

Ford Escape

Nissan Rogue

Chevrolet Equinox

Jeep (Wrangler, Cherokee, and Patriot)

By region, each is the best selling small SUV. They make up an impressive amount of the total vehicles sold. In the Northeast, collectively, these top-selling crossovers accounted for 12 percent of the total vehicles sold there since the start of the year. In the Midwest, that market share percentage went up to 15 percent.

In the South, where single-handedly the most number of these crossovers have been sold – 259,270 since the start of 2017 – the market share comes out to 10 percent. Similarly, and paralleling the total crossover sales in both the South and the West, the West sold 141,190 of these crossovers, which accounted for 10 percent of the total vehicles sold there.

Save for the Northeast, sales across all four regions for these crossover makes and models are up. From July to December 2016, 203,049 were sold in the Midwest. From January to June 2017, that number is up to 215,065. In the same 2016 time frame, 248,715 were sold in the South and 129,978 were sold in the West. So far this year, in the same 6-month timeframe, the South has already sold 259,270 of these crossovers and the West has sold 141,190.

Percent Market Share Change from 2016 to 2017

North East

South

Midwest

West

Chevrolet Equinox

0.44%

0.14%

0.98%

0.10%

Ford Escape

0.36%

0.09%

0.31%

0.17%

Honda CRV

0.39%

0.08%

0.16%

0.21%

Jeep (Cherokee, Compass, Patriot)

0.02%

0.04%

-0.23%

0.12%

Nissan Rogue

-2.16%

-0.06%

0.00%

0.00%

Toyota (Rav4)

0.67%

0.16%

0.10%

0.40%

Final Take

Small SUVs and crossovers have become a category of their own. Not only is this segment taking from sedan sales, but we’ve also seen truck sales starting to shift over to the small SUV market as well.

Read more about what the difference is between crossovers and other makes and models in ‘What is a Crossover?’

Peter Levy, Founder and President of Carjojo

The popularity of the small SUV seems to know no boundaries. It is the car of choice across the United States. With sales trends continuing to migrate from other vehicle makes and models, it is easy to see this will be the category to watch for now and in the future.

Percent Of Small SUV Market Share Change Over Past 12 Months

Market Share: North East Region

Market Share: South Region

July 2016 – Dec 2016

Jan 2017-June 2017

Percent Change

July 2016 – Dec 2016

Jan 2017-June 2017

Percent Change

Chevrolet Equinox

1.22%

1.65%

0.44%

Chevrolet Equinox

0.94%

1.08%

0.14%

Ford Escape

1.52%

1.89%

0.36%

Ford Escape

1.32%

1.41%

0.09%

Honda CRV

3.05%

3.44%

0.39%

Honda CRV

2.00%

2.08%

0.08%

Jeep (Cherokee, Compass, Patriot)

1.17%

1.19%

0.02%

Jeep (Cherokee, Compass, Patriot)

0.96%

1.01%

0.04%

Nissan Rogue

2.61%

0.46%

-2.16%

Nissan Rogue

2.07%

2.02%

-0.06%

Toyota (Rav4)

2.50%

3.17%

0.67%

Toyota (Rav4)

2.17%

2.33%

0.16%

Total

12.08%

11.81%

-0.27%

Total

9.47%

9.88%

0.40%

Market Share: Midwest Region

Market Share: West Region

July 2016 – Dec 2016

Jan 2017-June 2017

Percent Change

July 2016 – Dec 2016

Jan 2017-June 2017

Percent Change

Chevrolet Equinox

3.16%

4.14%

0.98%

Chevrolet Equinox

0.57%

0.66%

0.10%

Ford Escape

3.18%

3.49%

0.31%

Ford Escape

0.97%

1.14%

0.17%

Honda CRV

2.30%

2.46%

0.16%

Honda CRV

2.12%

2.33%

0.21%

Jeep (Cherokee, Compass, Patriot)

1.82%

1.60%

-0.23%

Jeep (Cherokee, Compass, Patriot)

0.93%

1.05%

0.12%

Nissan Rogue

1.56%

1.57%

0.00%

Nissan Rogue

1.51%

1.51%

0.00%

Toyota (Rav4)

1.84%

1.94%

0.10%

Toyota (Rav4)

2.23%

2.63%

0.40%

Total

13.87%

15.20%

1.33%

Total

8.33%

9.32%

0.99%

For definition, we’ve bucketed the states by the following:

Northeast

Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Vermont

New Jersey

New York

Pennsylvania.

Midwest

Illinois

Indiana

Michigan

Ohio

Wisconsin

Iowa

Kansas

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

North Dakota

South Dakota

South

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Maryland

North Carolina

South Carolina

Virginia

District of Columbia

West Virginia

Alabama

Kentucky

Mississippi

Tennessee

Arkansas

Louisiana

Oklahoma

Texas

West

Arizona

Colorado

Idaho

Montana

Nevada

New Mexico

Utah

Wyoming

Alaska

California

Hawaii

Oregon

Washington

SPEND YOUR WEEKEND WEEKENDING

Choose from any new small SUV at your local dealer.
We’ll negotiate the Guaranteed Best Price for you.

About The Auto Insider Report

The Auto Insider Report is Carjojo’s monthly analysis and insight into the current state of the automotive industry. Each mini report takes a deeper look at a specific brand or related topic.

We analyze hundreds of millions of data points daily on nearly 100% of new cars on dealers’ lots — over 4 million vehicles (and growing) — across nearly all makes and models. This level of real-time market intelligence is unprecedented in our industry, and unique to Carjojo’s proprietary technology. The aim of our report is to highlight key industry trends, including sales, inventory, bloat, and more. And we’ll have it days or even weeks before any other report is made public.

If you have any questions or comments to our report, please feel free to contact us at hello@carjojo.com.